to be really scared of the Tories getting into power?

[Coldhands]

I've never really been into politics but now I have a DS, I am thinking about the things that have helped us etc and I realised that Labour has actually done a lot to improve the things that I think are important.

If the Tories get in, the things they want to change/cut effects me and my family and I am really really dreading them getting into power to the point that it is making me quite upset.

I am on In Cap benefit for M.E./CFS and everytime I have a medical I have to prove how I cannot work. It is difficult to do this with a fluctuating condition that you cannot test for or see and the Tories want to retest everyone on In Cap with harder tests and I am terrified of not passing and being forced back to work where I would end up at square one again and have no energy, have to give up work again and go through the whole sodding process again whilst not being able to afford to live.

Then they want to get rid of the Child Trust Fund for anyone who earns over £16000. My DH earns just over this and it wouldn't be fair to subsequent DCs for them not to have a TF and DS has one so we would have to find the money to start them one.

They want to cut funding to Surestart that I have found to be absolutely brilliant and it really helped me when I had PND. There is more stuff that I can't remember and don't want to make my post too long.

I have sent off my postal vote so I have a voice but me and my DH were talking and we really don't see Labour getting back in as there are so many people who are fed up them and blame them for everything. One reader in The Sun (I know, quality paper that I read) was blaming Gordon Brown for the sodding volcano.

AIBU?

Antoinette - It seems very strange that you paid to have a lump removed from your breast. I have a close family member who has had breast cancer (very young so very unusual - I say that because more likely to be fobbed off when you are young with a "oh its nothing") and yes, there is an initial wait for results - but under 2 weeks, which is far far far far far better than it used to be. And it was firmly acknowledged with the doctors that were treating her that there would be no benefit in going private for cancer treatment, and indeed it may hinder waiting times. So your experience differs very much - I would hope you are not one of those people who demands immediate and unrealistic results from doctors - jumping queues etc ?

Labour have pledged to bring cancer treatment times down to 1 week from diagnosis - they are pretty good now - but acknowledge they could be better

There is part of me that wonders whether there is a very regional divide with public services - I live in a suburb south of Manchester and I simply do not recognise the situation you describe with regards to schools. In my immediate area there are about 10 primary schools and every single one is Outstanding or Good (is that the number 2 ?) rated from Ofsted. Most are outstanding. And that is the picture right across this region........

I think people who pay for private school around here- esp primary - are barmy ( I went to a private grammar school and know the difference between private and the state schools around here, and that is hype! )

Are you London based?

Tax credits help with childcare I can understand but allowing people to work min hours and topping up the household income has always seemed wrong to me and unfair. Therefore I do hope that a new party gets in and reforms the system.

I cant imagine any government stopping carers benefits - it simply wont happen.

The workshy should be targetted, it makes sense. Why pay out millions in benefits to those not willing to support themselves.

There are many areas cuts can be made, get tough and cut the financial gimmicks and put the money towards the massive debt Labour has got us into so that we can look forward to a better future.

By the way - LOL'ed @ LadyBlairBlair

Oh, I'm so glad you took that the right way, LadyBB! Had feared afterwards that you might not see the funny side...

No round of applause necessary, thank you, secondcoming. I do appreciate I am on the wrong thread here, and should probably start a "I hope the Tories win" one instead.

Cancer: the delightful GP who said I'd probably got cancer (thanks, GP) did tell me that I would be better off being treated on the NHS. As it happens, I'd have had no choice anyway, as there's no way in a zilion years that we could pay for cancer treatment privately. What bugged me, though, was the idea of having to wait for several weeks to find out whether I'd actually got cancer or not. Given the state I'd got myself into, I'm not sure we could have coped with the wait. At the time, I was also absolutely fuming that some people have no choice but to live for weeks imagining that they might be dying of cancer just because someone can't see them to reassure them within days. Believe me, if you think you have cancer, one day of worrying is one day too many. I was starting to make plans for who would care for the children when I died and so on...

Schools: we are a good 300 miles from London but, yes, I do think the regional differences between schools are massive. I personally object really strongly to selection by mortgage - which is particularly marked in Sheffield, for instance.

Although the gap between rich and poor is wider, everyone's still richer as a whole. So what it basically means is that the rich are a bit richer. Does this matter if everyone's getting richer anyway?

gerontius - you are seriously deluded- I know no one who is better off.
My family income is less than it was 10 years ago. We are constantly going backwards. We have both been made redundant and had to take jobs on less money for longer hours, and DH has had to take a job with a 100 mile round trip everyday so we have a lot more expense just for him to get to work.

I have had my first pay rise in 2.5 years last month.
Prices have risen on essentials disproportionately to the rise in wages even if we had had one.
One of my colleagues is on less money per hour than she was paid in 1974 doing a similar job, she has also been made redundant and had to take lower paid jobs.

The only people who should be scared of the Tories are the workshy who are fit to work and anyone who has been scamming the system.
We cannot go on as we are, cuts will have to be made by whichever party comes in...including Labour.
They are lying when they say they won't make any cuts, at least the other parties tell the truth.
That's whats wrong with the UK at the moment, too much 'class war'.
Thatcher was years ago in a different age.
We must do what's best for everyone and that means getting people to help themselves and not feel so powerless and having every little thing 'dictated' to them.
People moan about the nanny state and then get worried if it's going to change.

Interesting times.

Posts like the last one really scare the fucking life out of me

hmm.. so all these great things labour has given you. They don't come free, someone has to pay for them, Labour spend £4 for every £3 they collect.

on simple maths basis that can't continue!

Problem is everyone now 'expects' a certain standard of living and there is a huge benefits and expectations culture that everyone is entitled!

...I'm sorry.. but that cannot continue, its unaffordable.

25% of working age people don't work... thats not affordable.

Why LadyBlahBlah?

Nearly everyone knows someone who is 'fiddling' the system. Genuine people have nothing to worry about. The freeloading in this country scares the shit out of me. I cannot get my head around anyone not voting Conserv. Under the others the harder you work, the more unfair it is. How on earth is making you sell your home fair, when you have worked and worked to pay the mortgage. There is no point in planning your future, paying off a house etc. because at the end of the day you are worse off. You may as well piss your money up the wall before you get old.

Its not the money and cuts that scare me per se - I realise that all parties will be facing cuts - but their philosophies on where and what they are going to cut is the scary part. I am constantly astounded how single parents, pensioners, people who are unable to work through illness etc. say they are going to vote Tory. They have been totally and utterly duped and this refusal to say where the cuts are coming from by the Tories is the only reason why they will get in. Not a great start (the word integrity comes to mind) in my opinion really.

I totally understand those on higher incomes, good health, good family support etc. voting Tory, although despite being one of those myself, I would prefer to consider that some people may not have had the opportunities and support that I have - and therefore i am not superior in any way to someone who lives on benefits

The cuts the Leaders have admitted to are only the tip of the iceberg. Mervyn King has been quoted as saying the austerity measures we face to tackle our deficit are so severe, they will make the party forced to introduce them unelectable for a generation.

Basically, winning the election is a poison chalice. It's going to be a horrible ride, whoever gets in.

eve - does that 25% include sahms and carers?

LadyBlaBlah, those you genuinely cannot work due to a disability will always have a safety net - no party would remove that. Thats what the welfare state is for.

Why would a single parent not vote Tory? Many single parents work, not all of them rely on the state to fund them. Unless a child is disabled and childcare not suitable, being a single parent doesnt render them incapable of working and supporting the family they chose to have.

Cuts have to come and it makes sense to get tough on those that wont help themselves to ensure there is enough to assist those that cannot - it needs to go back to being a welfare state not a lifestyle choice.

Well said, HappyMummy.

"those you genuinely cannot work due to a disability will always have a safety net"

Its not quite as cut and dried as that though. There are genuine conditions out there, like M.E./CFS for example, that have no visible symptoms and no specific tests for but are diagnosed after a long process of elimination of other illnesses. Some people with it cannot work but every couple of years I somehow have to prove that I am incapable of work. Its all based on the opinion of the doctor on the day and I have to hope that they can judge how much it affects my day to day life in a 20 minutes assessment.

I have just been awarded it for another 3 years (yay) but under the Tories they want to make the test harder and I'll have to be retested which is really stressful. I know they are trying to weed out the bad ones who are taking advantage but I would have better luck if I lied and said I had a bad back or depression (which I have had 3 times and I am in no way trivialising how horrible it is), which I am not going to do

"Nearly everyone knows someone who is 'fiddling' the system"

Well I don't know anyone who is claiming benefit fraudulently however I do know lots of people who evade tax in every way that is possible. Is that what you mean?

verity I am the exception to your view that under the Tories, University was only for the rich. I come from a very poor family and when I went to University in 1992, my tuition was paid for and I had a means-tested grant. There were also student loans available at fantastic rates.

When labour introduced tuition fees I thought to myself that under that regime, I would not have been able to go to University and it scared me how different my life would have been as a result.

Also - I have never taken DC's comments about people who work hard to mean those that earn alot of money. I too would argue that the streetsweepers, nurses, teachers etc work alot harder than bankers, and my gut is that DC would say that too!

I am very scared that we wake up on 7 May with a hung parliament or a LibDem majority, as this is really not the time to have indecisive, point-scoring government. We need to rebuild the economy (or we will have no wealth to redistribute), we need to support the vulnerable in our country and we need to keep our country secure.

Everyone going to University, devalues the point of having a degree, unless its of very high quality.
Then you try and get a job and they say you have to have experience!
Too many graduates out there chasing jobs that never existed in the first place.
Only use for degrees is abroad, nothing left in the UK, not in the 1970s and not now

I strongly disagree ripeberry. Education should be a right not a privalege (to coin a phrase from the Tories in the 1990s when I was applying for a course) and as many people as possible should be educated to Uni level if they are willing (and able to afford it under Labour govt).

There are not enough jobs and that is a separate issue - job creation will be crucial, whichever candidate wins. I also think Uni students have plenty of time during their 3 month summer break to get some work experience. I did it almost 20 years ago, and I think it is reasonable of potential employers to expect it. Would definately favour someone who had put in some time volunteering a their local hospice over the Summer versus someone who had spent that time doing pub quizzes in the student union..